From a very young age, visual art has always played a central theme to my pastimes and interests. From countless hours spent in my childhood drawing and painting to the slow-burning interest in photography which slowly crept up on me later in life, the visual representation and recollection of sights around me (mostly of the natural world) has always engaged me!

My first digital camera, Sony DSC-P52 - without any full manual control, photographs were still a hit and miss affair!

My interest in photography grew sporadically thanks to a lack of any formal education or training. My skills have been self taught and learnt indirectly through the vast amount of knowledge spread around the internet and (more preferably) hands-on trial and error.

From a slow and intermittent beginning using an analogue SLR that was found on a bus to small point and shoot cameras with the onset of the age of digital imaging, the ability to render images instantly rather than using the traditional form of pencil and paper slowly took its hold on me.

Thunderstorm over the sea between Indonesia and Australia -1998

My first attempt at a long exposure. With no technical know-how and a film SLR that I'd found, all I knew was that the shutter had to stay open for a long time!

[[[[[More about type/style of pictures art that interests me]The motivation to shoot something varies enormously – Early attempts were just snapshots which became unfulfilling to look at because I felt there was 'something' missing or not right. Although I was aware of the importance of subject, context and mood in traditional art, it took a long time for me to realise that the same rules were applied to photographic images - Images that are straightforward observations of a scene or moment in time to shots which may be more revealing of (what was going on behind the lens) my state of mind or spirit at the moment of the shutter firing.]]]]

Roses in the early morning summer light -2004

As I began to see photography in the same way as other art I began to realise the importance of light in images.